No plans to follow DCC's floor level lead

The Waitaki District Council says it is aware of the
increased flooding risk caused by sea-level rises, but has no
immediate plans to follow the Dunedin City Council's lead in
raising minimum floor levels of new houses.

This comes after the DCC announced on Thursday that new
houses and extensions in some coastal areas of Dunedin would
have to be built up to 1.2m higher off the ground to reduce
the risk of flooding.

Council planning manager David Campbell said although the
Waitaki District Council was aware of the issue, there were
no immediate plans for height restrictions in the district.

However, the resource consent procedure for coastal areas
already addressed the situation in a "secondary way", as
flooding hazards were covered in the district's coastland
landscape plan, although it was primarily intended to protect
landscapes, Mr Campbell said.

The situation would be reviewed as part of district plan
procedure in two years' time, he said.

From next week, the Clutha District Council and Otago
Regional Council will hold a series of public meetings to
discuss community vulnerability to elevated sea levels and
coastal tsunami events.

Clutha District Council planning and environment manager
Murray Brass said the meetings were prompted by the regional
council's report and aimed at increasing community awareness
of elevated sea-level and tsunami hazards as well as
informing decision-making on the development of warning
systems and evacuation plans.

"The risk is different in each community and these meetings
will help us find out what the issues and risks are."